Free the Night
by general zargon
Summary: Elizabeth just wanted to get home after a hard day at work, but fate had other plans. When she wakes up in a stone cell with a man who's been through hell, it's up to both of them to work together in order to escape. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

General Zargon: I just finished reading One Silent Night and I just had to write this! I promise to get to work on the rest of my fics soon, but I had to write this up first! Enjoy!

Ryuuketsu: The author does not own the Dark-Hunter Series, Sherrilyn Kenyon does.

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Her day had turned out to be the day from hell, Elizabeth Tiarnon thought as she stalked angrily down Bourbon Street. She angrily ran her hand through her shoulder-length black locks, mentally cursing her boss, her clients, and basically just cursing for the hell of it. She scowled fiercely as she looked down at her stained blouse, tugging absently at the hem as she remembered how the blouse had gotten stained in the first place. It had happened just as she had finished up her shift at the office and had been preparing to leave. One of her co-workers, who also happened to be sexist and one of her ex-boyfriends, had purposely spilled his coffee on her as they passed each other in the hall, and then the bastard had had the nerve to laugh when she shrieked and tried to shake off the scalding liquid. Her lips curved in a vicious smirk as she remembered the look on the bastard's face when she had slammed her foot into his crotch in retaliation. She even snickered as she recalled how the sorry SOB had cried like a baby as he curled into the fetal position, hands clutching his crotch the entire time. Sure, she had gotten chewed out by her boss for it, but everyone who knew him knew that he had deserved it. Her mood sufficiently lightened at the memory, she turned her attention back to the street in front of her, and it was only then that she noticed how quiet it had gotten.

She frowned, unsure of what was going on. One minute there had been a few people other than her on the street, and now the place was deserted. Surely she couldn't have been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had just stood there and not noticed how late it had gotten? No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she knew that when she thought heavily on something, her surroundings tended to just fade away, and if she happened to be doing something, she stopped doing it. That included walking. Though she didn't want to admit it, she felt a lot less safe now that she was the only one that she could see on the street, and the half moon above provided enough light to see fairly clearly. She shivered, the rage that had consumed her as she had walked down the street abruptly leaving her as quickly as it always did. She checked the street signs and saw that while she had apparently kept walking, she was now quite a ways away from her house. She shivered again and turned back to the direction of her house, somehow sensing that something _wrong _was nearby.

She immediately began power-walking in the direction of her house.

Unfortunately, she had barely gotten a block away when something grabbed her by the arm. Before she could even scream, whatever had grabbed her hauled her into a nearby alley. She struggled, kicking out in the vain hope that she would connect with some part of her captor's body, and she used her free arm to claw at the hand restraining her. She twisted this way and that, determined to not go quietly, but she was forced to stop struggling when she heard a feral snarl and something, her captor's fist, she distantly thought, connected sharply with the side of her head. Her head reeling, she bared her own teeth in a snarl and thought angrily, '_That is it! This guy is going down!_' as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she promptly lifted both her legs and dropped like a rock, forcing whoever had grabbed her to let go or be forced to go down with her. As soon as she hit the ground, she saw a pair of jean-clad legs standing nearby, and she kicked out at them, her right leg hitting the mark and causing the man (for the voice that suddenly cursed at the pain that shot up the injured leg was definitely male) to hop back and cradle the injured limb. She scrambled away from the cursing man and shot out towards the street as fast as she could with her head reeling and black spots flickering in and out of her vision.

However; just as she was about to make it to the mouth of the alleyway, something heavy slammed into her from behind. A short shriek escaped before a rough hand covered her mouth and the owner's other arm slid under her midsection and hauled her back into the alley. She thrashed about desperately, and even resorted to biting at the offending hand. When that didn't work, she reached both hands back as far as she could and tried to claw at any exposed skin her attacker might have. Those years of self-defense she had taken in college must have paid off, because her attacker's grip slackened enough for her to get loose and run back towards the open street, even though she stumbled more than once. She distantly heard the thud of footsteps behind her, and she desperately increased her speed, thinking that if she managed to get into the street she would be safe. She could barely hear her attacker's footsteps getting closer over the blood rushing in her ears, and just as she was about to break into the open street, the man's hand closed around her left wrist and jerked her back. She hissed as she felt a few of the muscles in her wrist pull and sting, clearly protesting their appalling treatment, '_Join the club,_' she thought scathingly as she whipped around and brought her knee up in a savage move to strike at the man's most vulnerable area. Though she couldn't see that well through the spots dancing in front of her vision combined with the haziness brought on by her earlier introduction to the ground, she didn't need to see to know she hit her mark judging by the sudden barrage of curses and vile oaths from her attacker.

She didn't wait around for her attacker to recover. Instead, she turned back and ran into the deserted street, which, had she been calmer, would have seemed very frightening. As it was, however, she began running in the direction of her house, even as the blood continued rushing loudly through her ears and darkness began closing in on her vision. She distantly registered the sound of running footsteps behind her, but all that did was cause her to increase her speed as much as she could, though she was well aware that she was on the verge of passing out. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, making her think that it was about to burst out of her chest, but she ignored that feeling as she continued running as fast as she possibly could. Just as she saw her house less than thirty yards away, the muscles in her right leg locked up and sent waves of pain up her leg, which caused her to stumble and allowed her pursuer time to catch up to her. When she began trying to run again, something large and heavy slammed into her back and sent her sprawling to the ground. Before she could recover, her attacker hauled her up and, keeping a tight hold on her arm, proceeded to slam his fist against the side of her head. Her head snapped to the side, going with the force of the punch to minimize the damage, and she spun around as best she could to face her attacker. Her arm protested that course of action and sent sharp twinges of pain up her arm to emphasize its' displeasure. She brought her free hand up and clawed at where she thought her attacker's face was, though she didn't know if she really did any damage or not before her attacker slammed his foot into the side of her right ankle, causing her to shriek in pain as she dropped to the ground. Her attacker didn't let go, however; instead, he merely shifted his grip and crouched down next to her. If he thought she was going to just fall meekly unconscious, she thought dazedly, he had another thing coming! With her last once of strength, she lashed out with her still free hand and tried to claw at his face once again.

Seconds after she did that, she felt something warm and sticky flow over her fingers, but before she could even feel satisfied that she had managed to injure her attacker, he cursed loudly and slammed her head against the hard concrete, causing her to finally fall into blissful unconsciousness, the last thing she saw being her house mere yards away, taunting her with the knowledge that she would have been safe had she only been a little faster.

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Tiber spat out a vile curse as he clasped his right hand against his right eye, though whether or not there was anything left in the socket was up to debate, since all he could feel was the waterfall of blood flowing from his injured eye and between his fingers. He gritted his teeth, his lips pulled back to reveal his fangs, as he breathed shallowly to try and lessen the pain radiating from where the bitch he had had finally knocked out had clawed at his eye. His blond hair, having come loose from its tie, fell across his face as he glared hatefully at the unconscious woman with his one good eye. He ground his teeth together as he used his free hand to roughly grab hold of the bitch's arm and haul her up with him. It took some doing, but he managed to sling her limp body over his left shoulder as he stood up. Tiber dreaded explaining his injury to Stryker, the leader of the Daimons, but he looked forward to extracting his revenge on the one responsible even more. Originally, he had intended to kill her quickly, but now he wanted to make the bitch suffer for what she had done. Deciding to toss her in with one of the cells before he went to explain things to Stryker, he opened a bolt-hole to the area of Kalosis that housed the cells and stepped through quickly.

Emerging on the other side of the bolt-hole was an interesting experience, to say the least. Some of the younger Daimons likened it to being swallowed by something and then spit back up, and the older Daimons couldn't really find anything better to compare it to, so they stuck with that analogy. However, Tiber had centuries of experience on his side, and he was able to land on his feet on the other side while younger Daimons often landed on their asses, sometimes sustaining injuries in the process.

Once on the other side, he took a moment to catch his breath before walking over to the nearest cell and yanking open the door, not caring if there was somebody already in there. He didn't bother looking around as he slung the still unconscious woman from his shoulder and onto the floor. He left her in the middle of the cell and walked back out the door, slamming and locking it in the process. He snarled as he pressed his hand even harder against his injured eye in an attempt to dull the throbs of pain from it. He clenched his teeth once again as he turned and began walking in the direction of the throne room, where Stryker was most likely to be found, along with his wife, Zephyra. As he walked, he cautiously pulled his hand away from his injured eye, only to immediately replace it as more blood poured out of the wound. He grimaced, both at the pain and at the feel of the dried blood between his fingers and the drying blood coating his right hand and forearm.

He growled once more before he noticed that he had reached the entrance to the throne room. Before he went in, however, he checked around to make sure that Stryker was actually there. Seeing that the leader of the Daimons was, in fact, there, Tiber muttered an expletive before taking a deep breath and then walking out into the open. Thanking the gods that he didn't have to walk far, since he was starting to feel the blood loss from his injury, he kept his head down as he walked up to stand in front of Stryker's throne. Noting the sudden silence that his entrance had caused, he waited anxiously for Stryker to notice him. It took a few moments, but Stryker did speak, and when he did, his voice was as cold as his swirling silver eyes, "What happened, Tiber? Was it the gallu?" his leader leaned forward and waited for the explanation that would soon follow his question.

Tiber gulped and then dared to lift his head to observe Stryker. At an imposing six foot eight, Stryker was an intimidating sight as the best of times, but when he looked deadly serious, as he did now, he was downright scary. His leader's swirling silver eyes, set off by his dyed black hair, were hard and cold as he observed the Spathi commander in front of him. Tiber shook himself out of his observations and shook his head in response to his leader's question, merely saying, "No, my lord, it was not the gallu." He felt shame well up inside him as he dreaded telling Stryker what had happened, especially in front of the other Spathi's in the room, even though they had so far been silent. He ground his teeth together and again felt anticipation at the thought of making that bitch pay for injuring him so much, possibly crippling him forever, though he couldn't really be sure of that.

Stryker raised an eyebrow at the profusely bleeding Daimon in front of him, hiding his concern as he awaited a fuller explanation. When none was forthcoming, however, he sighed and told Tiber, "Tell me exactly what happened, Tiber. Don't leave out any important details." He stared into the commander's good eye and inwardly worried at how much blood the Daimon had obviously lost. Even Daimons, those who hadn't taken the soul of a gallu and then killed the gallu, that is, could die from blood loss, which looked to be exactly what would happen to Tiber if he didn't get treatment soon.

Tiber blinked his good eye in order to bring the suddenly wavering image of Stryker leaning forward, and he hurried to comply with Stryker's command, "I was out hunting, hoping to find another gallu to bring back here, when I noticed a human just standing there on the sidewalk with a faraway look in her eyes," he didn't have to say anymore than that, everyone in the throne room could figure out how tempting such an easy target the woman had made. Tiber took a breath and continued, "I grabbed her and pulled her into an alley, planning on just draining her then and there before moving on, but she fought back harder than I thought she would. After a brief struggle, she managed to get away from me and ran towards where I assume her house was. I chased her, and when I caught up with her, I decided to knock her out and save myself some trouble, so I kicked her ankle and forced her to drop to the ground, but before I could knock her out, she used her free hand to lash out. It may have been just luck, but she managed to claw at my eye before I slammed her head against the ground to knock her unconscious. I knew I was seriously injured, so I decided to come back for her later after I had healed to finish the job." There was a loud silence in the throne room after Tiber finished speaking, only for it to be broken by the door beside Stryker's throne slamming open.

Zephyra stormed through the door and took one look at Tiber before demanding, "Why hasn't someone bothered to treat that injury?!" her face a storm cloud, she marched right up to Tiber and proceeded to drag him off to the door that led to area of the palace the younger Daimons called the hospital wing.

Stryker watched his wife drag the Spathi off to treat the serious wound to his eye, and though he hadn't sensed Tiber lying, he couldn't help thinking that the Daimon hadn't told the whole truth either…

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General Zargon: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'm ashamed to say it, but I really, really suck at writing first chapters…-pouts-

Ryuuketsu:-sighs- hope you enjoyed the story, so R&R.

General Zargon:-perks up- yeah, R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	2. Waking up and a Massage

General Zargon: Chapter 2!!!!-Does the Mexican hat dance-

Ryuuketsu: The author does not own the Dark-Hunter Series, Sherrilyn Kenyon does.

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When Elizabeth regained consciousness, the first thing that registered in her mind was the fact that she was laying on her side on an extremely cold floor. The second thing that registered was the fact that her head felt like little men with jackhammers were gleefully demolishing highways in it. She groaned as she clutched her head between her hands, only for her left wrist to reveal that it still hadn't forgiven her for its previous treatment and it then proceeded to exact its revenge by sending sharp stings of pain up her arm. She whimpered softly as she slowly realized that her knees were sore, along with her back and chest, most likely from having been tackled so many times, she thought distantly as she cradled her wrist gently. She also noted that one of her ankles throbbed, '_The result of having a foot slammed against it,_' she thought sarcastically. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly in an attempt to somehow lessen the pain as she wriggled around and managed to shift her position enough that she was laying on her stomach, and she then used her good hand to push herself up to her knees, and then she promptly switched positions so that she was sitting on her butt instead of her sore knees. She opened her eyes slowly, taking in the stone floor in front of her, and then she looked around. She noted the chains hanging from the walls and ceiling with a shudder, and she hurriedly looked away from those. Her gaze moved on, taking in the obvious lack of windows, yet noting that she could see pretty well. She set those thoughts aside for now and then moved on with her inspection of the place she had woken up in.

It was only after she looked at the opposite wall that she realized that she wasn't alone in the cell. She couldn't stop herself from letting out a short scream when she saw the naked man held rigidly upright, his arms bound above his head, against the wall, but she choked off the second scream rising in her throat when she saw the glaringly obvious signs of torture marring the man's skin. She immediately began trying to stand up and, after some truly spectacular failures that made her glad that her cellmate was unconscious, finally managed to stand after at least five minutes of trying. She was a bit wobbly, but she counted herself lucky that she could even stand at all, so she unsteadily made her way over to the man. Once in front of him, she found herself at a loss as to what to do. Of course, the logical thing to do was bandage any injuries the man had and check for a concussion, but as she had no medical training outside of what to do in order to get someone to relax, she really couldn't trust herself not to make any injuries he had even worse. Elizabeth bit her lip, unsure as to what she should do, took a moment to examine the man, blushing furiously as she purposefully avoided looking at his package.

Tall, about six foot eight if she had to guess, and lithe, the man looked like someone had literally put him through hell. She cringed in sympathy, but she continued to gaze at him, taking in his matted dark auburn hair and the bruises and what looked suspiciously like bite marks that showed through the thick black tribal tattoos that marked his arms, torso, and thighs. She turned her attention to his face and flushed guiltily as she found herself admiring his finely boned face that was covered with a few days worth of stubble. She looked quickly at the tattoos on his arms to avoid giving into the temptation of looking at the man's private parts, though she couldn't stop herself from admiring the man's muscled arms. Her gaze followed the intricate lines of the tattoos, and when she looked at the ones on his collarbone, she noticed the thin black band around his throat. Elizabeth furrowed her brow in confusion as she hesitantly reached up a hand to brush her finger tips against the band, only to jerk her hand back millimeters away from touching it. She mentally screamed at herself for trying to touch the poor man while he was unconscious. What are you; she scolded herself, some kind of pervert? She shook her head frantically, sending strands of her black hair flying, before looking back at the man's face. Her eyes were drawn to the man's matted hair, and for some reason her hands itched to run through it and straighten it out. She clenched her hands into fists in order to contain the urge, and she tried desperately to focus on something other than how hot the man was, even as injured and filthy as he was. Her eyes wandered upwards, gazing at the man's muscles arms, and she gasped quietly as she saw how raw the man's wrists were. A few drops of blood welled up as she watched, further adding to her horror, and she winced as her own wrists throbbed in sympathetic pain.

She tore her eyes away from the man's raw and bloodied wrists and focused on the man's face. She couldn't help wondering what color the man's eyes were, though she couldn't help thinking that they would be perfect, just like she thought his body would be if he were healed and cleaned up. She suddenly blushed several shades of crimson as she realized what she was thinking and instead turned her thoughts to how she could possibly relieve some of the man's suffering. '_Okay,_' she thought clinically, '_The reason why his wrists are so raw is because they are holding up so much weight, and the reason why his body is so heavy is because he's tense, even though he's unconscious. Therefore, the only way to take some of the weight off is to get him to relax. Good thing I get so much practice at this, because I have a feeling I'll need all my experience to get this guy to relax._' She nodded to herself, instinctively flexing her hands before suddenly sinking to her knees.

She started at the man's right foot.

She gently curled her fingers around the limb, threading the fingers of her right hand between the man's toes before she gently began kneading the flesh under her fingers. She worked the skin on the underside of the man's foot gently, slowing stroking the flesh until it was loose enough for her to work her fingers in deeper in order to get to the tensed muscle. While her left hand was doing that, she used her right hand to spread the man's toes and work her fingers into the skin between them. She paid absolutely no attention to how dirty the man was, instead concentrating wholly on getting the muscles under her hands to relax. She dug her fingers gently into the tensed muscles, stroking and kneading until they slowly began to loosen under her expert touch. She abruptly changed her strokes from gentle to firm, and then back again. Beginning to alternate between the two, she slowly worked her way up and down the foot until she felt the muscles beginning to loosen, and she smiled unconsciously as she continued her work with more vigor, now certain that she could help relieve some of the poor man's pain. After a few moments of working at the foot in her hands, she began slowly working her way up the man's leg. She paused at the ankle, carefully probing the joint to make sure it wasn't broken or anything. Satisfied that it wasn't, she gently began rubbing her hands over the joint. After spending a few minutes on the man's ankle, she then moved up to the man's calf. Her hands gently ghosted over the man's flesh, barely even touching the skin as she gently probed around the bruised areas, checking to see if she could touch them without causing the poor man anymore pain. Hesitating briefly, she steeled herself before gently beginning to press on the skin around the bruises, cautiously kneading until the muscles there began to loosen. Growing more confident as she worked, she began running her hands up and down the calf, massaging the unmarred flesh until the muscles began to relax, even those under the bruised skin.

Once finished with the right leg up to the thigh, she abruptly switched over to the man's left foot and calf, repeating what she had done to the right foot and right calf. She continued working at the tensed muscles, smiling triumphantly whenever she felt the muscles loosen just a little bit more. Once she finished with the left leg up to the thigh, she bit her lip as she hesitated about moving further up, but then she looked at the black and blue bruises that covered areas of the man's skin, and then steeled her resolve as she gently began rubbing her hands up and down the top of the man's left thigh. Deliberately avoiding looking at the man's member, she focused completely on her task of massaging the man's thigh. As she worked, she distantly wondered why exactly she had been thrown into a dungeon cell with a man who had obviously been through hell, and who made her day seem like heaven compared to what he had endured. She paused as she shuddered briefly and then continued to work at the tensed muscles in the man's upper thigh. She briefly dug her fingers into the tensed muscles before switching back to the gentle approach as she continued kneading the skin under her hands. Now incredibly grateful for the fact that she was always getting the really tensed clients, she focused wholly on her work and, once she was satisfied that she had gotten the left thigh as relaxed as she could, switched over to the right thigh. Still concentrating on her work, she paid absolutely no attention to the fact that the man's member was only a few inches away from her mouth.

She was so intent on what she was doing that at first she didn't notice the soft rumbling sound that started when she began gently massaging the man's stomach, but she did notice when the soft rumbling grew louder. She paused, her hands stilling, unsure of what the sound was, until she noticed the soft vibrations coming from the man's chest. Elizabeth tried to smother her giggles, instead grinning widely as she began gently kneading the muscles of the man's chest, trying to ignore the fact that her hands were just centimeters away from the man's nipples. She continued massaging the man's pectorals, listening quietly to the soothing, to her, purrs coming from the man's chest. For some reason, the comforting sound brought the image of a large tiger purring to her mind, and she found that the image fit. She smothered another giggle as she quietly basked in the low sound and continued to knead her fingers into the man's tensed chest muscles.

After a few more moments, she decided that it was about time to get to work on the man's arms, so she immediately began working her fingers into the tensed muscles in the man's right shoulder. She worked her fingers gently into the skin, slowly working back and forth as she alternated between gentle and firm strokes. She guessed the repetitive motions must have felt good, because the man's purring cranked up a few notches, and she smiled as she felt the sound resonate through her. She sighed gently in pleasure as she felt the vibrations from the soothing sound thrum through her body, and she smiled even wider as she continued working diligently at the tensed muscles in the man's right arm, seeing as she had moved up from the shoulder. She dug her fingers gently into the tensed muscles of the man's right bicep, working them in as gently as she could before she began stroking over the muscles firmly and gently, trying to loosen them up as much as she possibly could. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes in concentration as she played her fingers lightly over the muscles in the man's right bicep and forearm, trying to figure out where the muscles were the tensest. She worked her fingers gently into the muscles, coaxing the muscles to loosen and soothing them at the same time. She couldn't stop herself from caressing the man's skin when she finally found where the worst knots were, though she blushed scarlet after she realized what she had done and she mentally thanked the gods that he wasn't awake. She immediately started working again, this time on the man's left shoulder, when the rhythmic purring faltered.

She was concentrating so much on her work that she failed to notice that the man's eyes were slowly opening as she massaged his left bicep and forearm.

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General Zargon: I know I'm evil for setting up cliffhangers 2 chapter in a row, but please don't kill me!

Ryuuketsu: Because if you do, you won't find out what's going to happen next, now will you?

General Zargon:-sweatdrops- Thanks a lot…-perks up- anyway! R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryuuketsu: yeah, R&R


	3. A Conversation

General Zargon: Here is chapter 3!!!-Does the Macarena-

Ryuuketsu: The author does not own the Dark-Hunter Series, Sherrilyn Kenyon does.

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The first thing Jared became aware of as he slowly regained consciousness was the fact that someone was touching him, and not in a way that he was familiar with either. The person touching him was being very gentle, as if whoever it was didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was; which ruled out Zephyra or Medea as being the one touching him. Though, from how small the person's hands were, he knew that whoever it was, they were female, and they had incredibly soft skin. The second thing that registered in his mind was the fact that he was _purring_, and that stunned him enough that his purring faltered, and the woman touching him immediately resumed stroking the tensed muscles of his left arm. His mind whirled as he tried to absorb the fact that someone was touching him without the intent to hurt him, though he couldn't quite get over the fact that he was purring, no matter how good the mystery woman's hands on his skin felt. He couldn't ever remember purring, not even before he had betrayed the other Sephiroths to the Malachai. As always, the memory of that time sent a wave of pain through him, reminding him of what he had done and what had been done to him. He ruthlessly shoved those memories into the back of his mind before he turned his attention back to the fact that some unfamiliar woman was giving him the greatest massage he had ever had, not that he'd had many, mind you. He mentally took stock of what was happening, and that when he became aware of the fact that his wrists didn't throb quite as much as they normally did, and as he mentally checked the rest of his body, he noted that the rest of his muscles from the neck down were more relaxed and loose than they had ever been. He finally couldn't take not knowing who was touching him so gently any longer, so he cautiously cracked open his eyes just enough to see straight down in front of him.

As his red-ringed yellow eyes focused, the first thing he saw was a woman at least one foot shorter than him with tousled black hair, slightly tanned skin, and gentle light brown eyes. Momentarily blindsided by how unassuming she looked, it took a moment for him to register that he didn't immediately know everything about her, like he usually did whenever he saw someone. Incredibly confused, and maybe even the tiniest bit frightened, he took a moment to examine the rest of the woman, who he could plainly see was about as far from a demon as possible, as she was apparently too focused on working at the muscles of his left arm to notice that he was awake. He frowned a bit as he saw the coffee stain on her dark blue blouse, distantly wondering how it had gotten there, before he turned his attention to her hip-hugging blue jeans and her light blue and white sneakers. His lips quirked up just a tad as he took in her nice, rounded hips and her not-to-thin waistline. He looked at her chest and realized with sudden clarity that she had apparently decided to forgo a bra that day (or night, since he couldn't really tell whether it was one or the other) and he could clearly see the outline of her breasts, which her blouse set off to perfection. He imagined that they would be a perfect fit for his hands, and he barely restrained himself from starting when he felt the sudden stirring of lust shooting straight down towards his groin. He managed to keep his unexpected desire from showing, but he doubted that he could keep it hidden for much longer if she kept rubbing on him, so he regretfully ceased his purring and instead cleared his throat in order to draw attention to the fact that he was awake.

Elizabeth jerked her hands back as though she'd been burned when somebody suddenly cleared their throat very near her, and it was only after she looked like an idiot by looking left and right that she realized that it was the man she was massaging was now clearly awake, and looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She couldn't control her blush as she looked into the man's now open eyes, and she quietly gasped as she looked at them. '_Beautiful,_' was her only thought as she looked into the yellow orbs ringed by a narrow band of blood red, and it was only after the man cleared his throat a second time, looking unsettled by her reaction, that she remembered where she was and she felt her face heat up once again as she looked up uncomfortably, wondering what she could possibly say or do to make their situation any less awkward. To her surprise, it was the man who spoke first, "Who are you?" his voice was low and deep, the perfect voice, she imagined, for sending shivers down women's spines. Like it was doing to hers', she thought as she contained her shiver as best she could.

Elizabeth took a moment to remember that the man had asked her a question, and then another moment to remember how to breathe before she answered, inwardly yelling at herself for making herself seem like an idiot, "My name is Elizabeth Tiarnon, but I answer to either Lizzy or Beth, if you prefer…" you're babbling, her inner voice that sounded suspiciously like her best friend Lillian commented, and she abruptly shut up, mentally cursing her blush reflex as her face heated, and she hurriedly asked, "What's your name?"

Jared smiled in amusement, thinking that Elizabeth, he just couldn't bring himself to call her Lizzy or Beth even in his mind, looked cute when she was embarrassed. He smiled again at her hurried attempt to distract him from noticing her blush, and he quietly answered her question, "My name is Jared." And, simply because he was curious, he asked, "Why were you rubbing on me?" he knew there was a better way he could have phrased that, but he couldn't restrain his urge to make her blush again, and he was pleased when it worked.

She blushed crimson as she mumbled her answer, but when she saw his curious look, she steeled herself and said clearly, "I saw how raw your wrists were, and I couldn't just sit there on the floor doing nothing, but since I'm a masseuse, not a doctor, I decided that the best way to help was to get your muscles to relax. You see, the reason why your wrists were so raw is because they are supporting so much weight, and the reason they are supporting so much weight is because you're so tense, so I started giving you a massage." She took a deep breath, not having paused during her explanation, and gave him an expectant look, hoping that he understood why she'd done it and didn't think she was some kind of pervert. Thankfully, he seemed to understand. She was about to speak again when she noticed the smile on his lips, and before she could even begin to stop herself, her body acted on autopilot and she placed her hand against his cheek.

Time seemed to freeze as they stared into each other's eyes, neither one quite knowing what to do, and neither one quite wanting be the one to break the moment. Finally, Elizabeth tore her eyes away and slowly, almost reluctantly, removed her hand from Jared's cheek. Her palm tingling from the contact, she kept her gaze centered on a spot on the wall somewhere to the left of Jared. As she mentally scolded herself, she couldn't help noticing the difference in their height, though she knew that he was taller than her by a healthy margin. However, compared to his six foot eight, her measly five foot two made her feel like a midget. She set those thoughts aside, instead gathering up her courage before she looked back at Jared, who was staring at her with an intense look in his eyes. She swallowed nervously, instinctively shifting from one foot to other, only to be reminded rather abruptly that her right ankle was still injured. She couldn't stop herself from crying out as her right leg buckled and she found herself on the stone floor looking up at the ceiling while her ankle throbbed in pain.

Jared jerked his head back in shock when Elizabeth suddenly cried out and fell to the floor. His startled eyes scanned over her body, wondering if she suffered some injury that he had failed to see during his initial examination. Seeing no obvious injuries, he mentally replayed the last few minutes and tried to figure out why she might have fallen. Still finding nothing that might have caused her to fall, he returned his attention back to her prone form and asked her in concern, "Are you alright? What happened?" he saw only the obvious injuries, like the large bruise on the side of her head, so he had to wait for her to answer in order to find out what had caused her to fall down. While he waited, he had to wonder why the woman had been tossed in with him. Sure, there was always the possibility that she was a decoy, put in there to gain his trust and then used to hurt him more, but he dismissed that option almost as soon as he'd thought it. There was no way that someone as inherently good as Elizabeth could be possibly working for Zephyra or Medea. Then again, he thought skeptically, he had once been good as well, but he had turned on his allies and led them to the slaughter. He once again shoved those memories into the back of his mind, but that didn't stop him from doubting his ability to accurately guess Elizabeth's character, since he was apparently blocked from her mind by some powerful force.

Elizabeth groaned before she gingerly levered herself up, careful of her still injured wrist, and drew her right leg up so she could gently clasp it in her good hand. She registered the fact that Jared had asked her a question, but it still took her several moments before she gathered her wits enough to answer, "I'll be okay, it's just that my right ankle is a little sore, probably a result of having that bastard slam his foot into it…" she growled out the last part, remembering the events that had led up to where she was now. Seeing Jared's questioning look, she elaborated, "I was walking home after work – you remember how I said I was a masseuse, right? – well, just as I was only a few blocks away from home, some guy grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into an alley. I wasn't about to lay down and let the guy do what he wanted with me, so I struggled, and I guess I irritated him enough that he decided to punch me in the head to knock me out. After that, I lifted my legs up and dropped to the ground in order to make the guy let go of me. When he did, I kicked his legs out from under him and made a break for it. Unfortunately, he dragged me back before I'd made it out into the street, and we fought some more until I managed to knee him in the balls," she blatantly ignored Jared's wince and blithely continued, "When he went down that time, I made another break for it and managed to make it out into the street and began running in the direction of my house. Though I guess the bastard recovered faster than I thought. Well, that and my right leg cramped up, since he tackled me again just when I was a few yards away from my house. He hauled me up before I could recover and proceeded to slam his fist against the side of my head again. I went with the punch to minimize the impact and I think I pulled a few muscles in my arm as a result. Anyway, before I could do anything else, he slammed his foot into my right ankle and just crouched down beside me when I fell down. I don't know what he was going to do, but I think he was waiting for me to fall unconscious. I wasn't just going to go quietly, so before I did black out, I clawed at his face with my good hand, and I'm pretty sure I drew blood since I felt something wet on my hand before he slammed my head into the ground and knocked me out…" she trailed off as something occurred to her and she raised her good hand up to examine her nails, only to gasp in shock moments later.

Jared didn't know why, but the thought of a Daimon feeding on Elizabeth filled him with rage. Rage and another unfamiliar emotion that he dared not identify. It had to have been a Daimon, he thought to himself, since only Daimons and the gallu had access to Kalosis, and he seriously doubted that the gallu would have dared to enter Kalosis just to toss a human woman into his cell. He was brought out of his thoughts by Elizabeth's shocked gasp, and when his gaze refocused on her, he could see why she had gasped, and paled, as he found when he looked at her face. The reason for her reaction was clearly the fact that her index finger and middle finger were covered in blood up to her first knuckles. There was clearly blood under her nails as well. He immediately remembered the part in her story when she had said she had clawed at the Daimon's face and had felt blood before she had been knocked out. He didn't know why, and he dared not examine the feeling, but he felt _pleased_ that she had actually injured her attacker so severely, if the amount of blood on her fingers were any indication. He inwardly smirked before he became rather sharply aware of the fact that Elizabeth was shaking, and her face had gone even paler, which he knew could not have been a good sign. For some reason he dared not name, he felt compelled to ask her, "Are you sure you're alright? You've started shaking." He mentally cursed himself as he realized that he'd stated the blatantly obvious, and he found himself guiltily hoping that she was too distracted to notice. He watched as Elizabeth seemed to pull herself together, and he found himself admiring her inner strength for being able to recover from her shock so quickly.

Elizabeth took several deep breaths before she finally forced herself to look away from the dried blood coating her nails. She dared not think about why, but for some reason Jared's concern warmed her. However; she doused that warmth by thinking, 'He's just asking what any decent person would ask, don't read too much into it,' she shook herself to bring herself out of her thoughts. She looked up at Jared's handsome face and tried to conjure up a smile to reassure him as she said, "I'm fine, really. I guess I just didn't expect so much blood…" her voice trailed off as she looked back at her two blood-soaked fingers. She shuddered convulsively before she once again tore her gaze away from the blood-covered appendages to look back at Jared, "So, what are you in for?" it was an extremely poor attempt at a joke, and she immediately winced as she looked at Jared apologetically. She felt the blood rush to her face as she blushed and looked down ashamedly as she apologized, "Sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." She began to mentally scream at herself, demanding to know why she had had to ask that question, when clearly Jared could have done nothing to deserve what he had endured, judging by the injuries and bruises that showed through his black tattoos.

She was so busy scolding herself that she almost missed what Jared's reply was, but she immediately turned her attention back to Jared's face when he said, "I did something unforgivable." Elizabeth gaped at him, seeing in his eyes that he actually believed that he had done something truly terrible.

She promptly began to try getting to her feet without putting too much pressure on her injured ankle, even as she began to speak, "There is absolutely no way that you could have possibly done something so wrong that you deserved _this_!" she gestured at the chains, his raw wrists, and the both old and new wounds that covered his skin. She managed to stand shakily, though she continued to speak while she tried to find her balance, "Hitler deserved this, Mussolini deserved this, Goering deserved this, Caligula deserved this, even Attila the Hun deserved this, but you definitely do _not_!" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, her eyes flaring as she dared Jared to contradict her. Her chest heaved as she fought to regain her breath after her passionate defense of him, even though she didn't really know what this 'unforgivable' crime actually was.

Jared was stunned. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened at Elizabeth's impassioned defense of someone she didn't even know. Through force of will, he managed to close his mouth and his eyes returned to their normal position, even as his eyebrows lowered in thought as he began to reevaluate his first impression of the woman in front of him. While he stood by his first thought that she was inherently good, he mentally tacked on that she had a very passionate spirit packed into that small frame. Finally, he had to nod slightly to appease her, even as he agreed that he definitely didn't deserve what had happened to him, at least for half the time that he had endured it. He watched as Elizabeth relaxed the minute that he nodded, and he had to smile slightly in response to her beaming grin.

He abruptly groaned as he became aware of the fact that his muscles had tensed up again sometime during their conversation, and now his arms were beginning to throb in agony once again. He ground his teeth to try and stifle the groan, but Elizabeth still heard somehow. Before he could think to reassure her that he was fine, she had stepped right up to him and placed her hands back on his left arm. As he savored the feel of her hands on his skin, she began to slowly and gently work her fingers into his muscles, and he promptly began to gently purr in response as he reveled in the feel of her hands soothing him, not asking anything in return for the comfort. He distantly became aware of the fact that his eyelids had gotten heavy, but for the life of him he couldn't quite think of why that might have been a bad thing. As his eyelids drifted shut, his last sight was that of Elizabeth's face as she smiled gently and worked to lessen his pain. His last thought was that he couldn't have wished for a greater sight to accompany him into the realm of dreams.

Elizabeth was startled when Jared's purrs started to sound sleepy, and she looked at his face only to find his eyes closed and a peaceful smile on his face. She grinned to herself, pleased that she had managed to relax him so much that he had fallen asleep, especially given how much discomfort he must have been in while they had been talking. At the thought of how much pain Jared must have felt, she began to work at his skin with even more gentleness than before, and she was rewarded with a deep purr for her efforts. She grinned even wider as she finished with his left arm and started on his right, determined to lessen his pain as much as she could.

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General Zargon: Hope you all enjoyed that chapter! Things are about to get real interesting, so sorry about the sorta-cliffhanger!

Ryuuketsu: R&R

General Zargon: Yeah, R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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